Diana and John Travolta in the White House

New evidence about the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, is emerging all the time. Today, we have the newly-published views of Camilla, now Duchess of Cornwall, married to the Prince of Wales. Source, Daily Mail :

So what did Camilla really think of Diana at the height of her affair with Prince Charles?

“She felt nothing but contempt for her,” according to a trusted Royal aide. “She used to refer to her as ‘that mad cow’.”

Some will see this as a shocking insight indicating a broad streak of self-serving ruthlessness. They may be surprised to learn that in Camilla’s eyes she herself was the one deserving of sympathy, not Diana, for having to pick up the pieces of Charles’s broken life and prop him up sufficiently to restore his confidence.

“She blamed Diana for everything,” says the aide. “She hated what Diana was doing to Charles and blamed her entirely for how low the Prince was when he came to Camilla for comfort.”

Camilla’s scornful attitude towards Diana, we can reveal, did not end there. Far from being jealous of the Priness’s cover-girl looks, among her close circle of friends Camilla was openly mocking of how Diana had gone from being “scrawny” to “muscley”.

Not surprisingly, in Camilla’s eyes the so-called War of the Waleses was a very one-sided affair. To her Diana was “unreasonable” and it was the Princess’s obsessive behaviour that so damaged Charles that he had to look outside his marriage for comfort.

Henry II (1154 – 1189) is known for his close, but disastrous, friendship with Thomas Becket, his Chancellor. While they were still friends, Henry used many occasions to mock Becket :

“One day they were riding together through the streets of London. It was a hard winter and the King noticed an old man coming towards them, poor and clad in a thin ragged coat. ‘Do you see that man?’ said the King. ‘Yes, I see him’, replied the Chancellor.’ ‘How poor he is, how frail, and how scantily clad!’ said the King. ‘Would it not be an act of charity to give him a thick warm cloak?’ ‘It would indeed; and right that you should attend to it, my King.’ So Henry offered the man a cloak.

“Said the King to the Chancellor, ‘You shall have the credit for this act of charity,’ and laying hands on the Chancellor’s hood tried to pull off his cape, a new and very good one of scarlet and grey, which he was loth to part with. A great din and commotion then arose and the knights and great men of their retinue hurried up wondering what was the cause of this sudden strife. But it was a mystery; both of them had their hands fully occupied and more than once seemed likely to fall off their horses. At last the Chancellor reluctantly allowed the King to overcome him, and suffered him to pull the cape from his shoulder and give it to the poor man.”

On the 22nd of February, 1988, the Daily Telegraph announced that the grave of Queen Boudicca (died AD 61), popularly known as Boadicea, had been discovered at King’s Cross station in London. But British Rail were not overjoyed :

“The grave of Boadicea, the chariot-borne warrior queen who fought the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago, has been located by archeologists ~ they believe that it is under platform eight at King’s Cross station.

” ‘We have just refurbished platform eight and anyone wanting to dig it up had better come up with a strong case,’ said a British Rail spokesman.”

Zara Phillips has been auctioned off to the highest bidder. She fetched the princely sum of £25,000. The money, of course, went to charity.

Zara’s side of the bargain was to fly 12,000 miles to Auckland, New Zealand, to work in a biscuit factory. Accounts say she worked from 10am to 2pm, with a leisurely lunch thrown in, and spent most of the time sampling the products, especially the chocolate-chip cookies. Nice work if you can get it.

The owner of the River Mill bakery, Gerald Shand, declared her a “fantastic” member of staff. “She was really charming. I’d hire her again tomorrow.”

The money was paid to Catwalk, a spinal injuries research charity, of which she is patron. Zara is a qualified osteopath.

In recent years she has become one of the most popular members of the Royal Family. AskMen.com says of her :

Zara Phillips is not only hailed as a wonderful Royal because of her fun-loving attitude. Her beauty, accentuated by an acute fashion sense, is striking. Her record of naughtiness while at boarding school and her recent romantic life have not gone unnoticed. In addition to her poise and natural flair for the camera, Phillips’ flirtatious nature makes her the most desirable female Royal around.”